Thrombospondin (TSP), also known as TSP-1, is a multimeric glycoprotein comprised of identical monomers. The monomers migrate at an apparent molecular weight of approximately 185 kDa in SDS-polyacrylamide electrophoretic gels under reducing conditions. The predominant multimer is a trimer, which migrates at an apparent molecular weight of approximately 450 kDa on non-reducing gels. The molecular weights by sedimentation equilibrium are similar, at 135 kDa for monomers and 420 kDa for trimers. The predicted molecular weight from just the sequence of amino acyl residues in the monomer is 127,524 Da, which does not include contributions from glycosylation and β-hydroxylation. The thrombospondin glycoprotein is produced by platelets and is released upon platelet activation from platelet α-granules, along with many other proteins, such as platelet-derived growth factor, β-thromboglobulin, fibronectin, fibrinogen, and platelet factor-4 (see Chapter 1, “An introduction to the thrombospondins” in The Thrombospondin Gene Family by J C Adams, R P Tucker, & J Lawler, Springer-Verlag: N.Y., 1995, pp. 1-9, but especially p. 2; and Chapter 3, “The secondary and tertiary structure of the thrombospondins,” ibidem pp. 43-56, especially Table 3.1). Thrombospondin is known to be involved in biological processes such as cell adhesion, proliferation and chemotaxis. It has also been reported that thrombospondin may be involved in the progression of malignant tumors. Furthermore, thrombospondin has been reported to be highly expressed in many human malignant tissues and in surrounding stroma and/or endothelium and has been reported to be present in higher than normal levels in the plasma of cancer patients. (e.g., Qian and Tuszynski, Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 212:199-207, 1996; de Fraipont F et al. Trends Mol. Med., 7:401-407, 2001).
Despite the foregoing, as for any potential diagnostic test, it would be desirable to increase the specificity and sensitivity of such tests. To that end, the present inventor has discovered that thrombospondin is present in the blood and blood plasma in relatively small amounts compared to fragments of thrombospondin, and this finding is true in the blood and blood plasma of cancer patients as well. This discovery provided a basis for the present inventions related to novel diagnostic assays that are more specific, more sensitive, more easily calibrated, and in some cases distinguish these thrombospondin fragments from each other and from thrombospondin itself. The present inventor has also identified specific high molecular weight thrombospondin fragments, forms, and/or cross-reacting material is useful in the detection of cancer. The present invention also relates to novel methods of distinguishing between a properly versus an improperly collected sample by detecting high molecular weight thrombospondin fragments, forms, cross-reactive material, and/or thrombospondin itself.